Kieran

  [Scenario Cleared]

  [In Defense of Gorias, Part 2]

  [Clear]

  Once Kieran had named Caoimhe’s new mount “Gael”, he turned his attention back to the party at large. Surprising no one, Marissa was still trying to decide on a name, but everyone else looked like they had made their choices pretty quickly.

  “So…now what?” Evie asked. “We’ve got like fifteen minutes before our time is up, and Nyx and I have work in the morning.”

  “You say that like we don’t all have work in the morning.” Ash said.

  “I don’t have work in the morning,” Firo said, adding a short burst of evil laughter before turning around with an oversold sigh. “I’ve got class at 7:30 though.”

  “Oof.”

  “Damn, 7:30?” Evie laughed. “That’s around when I wake up.”

  “Well, it’s technically at eight, but the professor likes everyone to be in their seats by then.” Firo clarified.

  “Man, I don’t understand why some professors are so uptight about that,” Kieran said. “Obviously I prefer my students to be ready to go when class is starting, but like…if they don’t show up, it’s their loss, not mine.”

  “Right?” Firo chuckled. “I’ve seen professors actually take attendance that counts toward your final grade and I just…it’s college, man. I thought the whole thing was supposed to be less hand-holdy, but that feels bad.”

  “I mean…I think attendance making a difference depends on the class, so I wouldn’t judge a professor on that alone.” Kieran said, trying to be fair. “If what’s actually taught in the class isn’t covered in the textbooks, it might actually be important to be present.”

  “There’s also labs and the like for science courses,” Evie said.

  “True…” Firo allowed, then trailed off.

  “Fuck it. Your name is Cinnamon!” Marissa shouted, which caught everyone else off guard. Kieran snickered.

  “Bisky, really? Cinnamon?” He asked.

  “Yes. I hate naming things.” She replied.

  “Tell me you didn’t pick Cinnamon because your horse is mostly bark. Please.”

  When Marissa simply didn’t respond, Kieran laughed, which prompted others to join in.

  “Shut up, guys. What’s the plan now? I wasn’t listening.” She asked.

  “We didn’t decide.” Nyx said. “I suppose we should at least get through the stuff before the next fight?”

  “I think we’ve got time,” Marissa said. “Unless anyone wants to call it quits early?”

  “I’m good. If anything, I’m tempted to run over time, not stop early,” Jazz said.

  “Actually winning will do that to you, yeah.” Ash said. “But I’m in agreement about at least getting through the cutscenes tonight. No reason to hold off on that.”

  “Then we gotta walk on over to Uathach,” Marissa said, moving Bisky that way. The party trailed after her.

  “You think we’ve got cutscenes coming?”

  “No doubt in my mind,” Kieran said. “Unless something else happens, I got the impression that we’re about to have the setting swapped up on us.”

  “Yeah, I got that feeling too.” Ash agreed.

  “Same. Plus we just finished the scenario and the major quest.” Evan said.

  “You are correct, sir,” Marissa said with an audible grin. “What do y’all think? Should I accept the new mission, “Permission to Fly”?”

  There was a chorus of “oohs” as Kieran said, “Oh, heck yeah.”

  When Marissa accepted the quest, a cutscene began. Kieran chuckled to himself as he heard everyone deafen on the chat; they must have been hovering over the button with that speed.

  “Mother,” [Uathach] began, addressing [Scathach] and [Cu], “we found some troubling evidence at the enemy camp that you may want to take a look at.”

  “Oh? Let’s see it then.” [Scathach] said, holding a hand out for whatever her daughter was offering.

  [Scathach, the Shadow] looked dangerous somehow, although she wasn’t carrying a weapon, nor was she armored. She clearly preferred a darker color scheme, matching her raven black hair and black and violet dress. While the bottom was a simple skirt that fell below her knees, the top was well tailored, and fit her snugly.

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  Kieran was sure that there must be more to her than met the eye, knowing that [Scathach] was mostly known for training [Cu Chulainn] - she must be a formidable fighter. And one trained for melee combat, no less.

  When [Uathach] handed over the paperwork that they had taken from the enemy camp, [Scathach] flipped through the pages while [Cu] watching over her shoulder.

  “We took their map as well, but I’m not sure their map positions are as urgent as that news.” [Uathach] said, pointing to the papers in her mother’s hands.

  There was a short silence as [Scathach] flipped another page then sighed. “This is troubling, indeed.”

  “I think we may want to procure some flying fighters of our own.” [Uathach] said.

  “Indeed…What do you think, [Cu]?”

  “I can take the paper up to the [Dagda] and see what he thinks. But at a glance, yes. It seems like we’re going to need to defend the skies. Wyverns, especially in groups, can be very destructive.”

  “Letting them fly over our defenses is a recipe for disaster. Or at least allowing it uncontested.” [Scathach] said. “Come, let’s go up and talk to [Dagda].”

  “Mother, if I may?” [Uathach] said hesitantly. [Scathach] turned to her and raised an eyebrow in question. “These fine warriors here did very well in the battle, and I believe that they are far beyond the fighting strength of our average fighter here. I think we should make use of them appropriately.”

  “Oh?” [Scathach] said, then fully turned around to face her daughter and the party at large. “Very well then,” she said, a devilish grin splitting her face, almost unnaturally wide, “let’s test them. Follow me.”

  The woman, rather than continue up the path, walked back down toward the stables and the large, open pastures. One of them in particular was flat, empty, and grassy. The perfect stage for a fight. Kieran wished he had noticed that earlier.

  “When you lot are prepared, step into the pasture and we shall test your mettle. Prove your worth, and we’ll see where things go from there.” [Scathach] said, and then she continued into the pasture. She walked to the middle of it, then turned back to the entrance, her arms crossed, waiting.

  “I’m sorry about her.” [Uathach] sighed. “She’s a great leader and teacher, but also a bit of a battle monger. And she doesn’t get nearly enough of her hunger sated these days. I don’t think she’ll actually try to kill any of you, but…well. Be careful.”

  Kieran rubbed his forehead as the cutscene ended.

  “So…are we going to let her kill us once before bed?” Firo asked when he returned to the chat.

  “I mean…yeah?” Evan said.

  “I’m not about to go to bed tonight, knowing we won’t be back again until next Tuesday, without at least getting a taste of what’s coming.” Nyx said.

  “I can get behind that.” Kieran agreed.

  “Same. If anyone wants to go to bed now, speak now or forever hold your peace.” Marissa said. When no one responded, she cleared her throat. “Alright then! Everyone get into whichever Path or Dedication you’re planning on running for this and let’s get it on.”

  Kieran watched as several people flashed, their gear changing in an instant. It looked like everyone had returned to their ‘main’ [Dedication] in preparation for this fight. The one thing that did stand out was Aleister’s new gloves, which looked horrendously matched against his otherwise well designed outfit.

  The Elizabethan noble attire that covered most of his body was mostly black with a few gold accents throughout. His sleeves, however, looked as though they were tucked into massive gauntlets that were a bright blue-silver color, sporting dark red runes etched into each one.

  “Aleister, you gonna -”

  Evan didn’t even get to finish his joke before the appearance was overwritten with the clean white gloves that Aleister usually preferred. “One step ahead of you.”

  “Right then. We all ready?” Marissa asked. No one said anything to the contrary as the group stepped into the open pasture. There was a familiar small blue circle half way between the gate and [Scathach], which the party moved towards. Marissa stopped just outside it as everyone else walked in.

  “Last chance?” She prompted, but once again no one said anything so she stepped into the circle.

  “Right then,” [Scathach] said happily, “Fight to the best of your abilities! Trust me, you won’t kill me, so do your best.”

  The woman held her hands out to each side, and shadows began to swirl around her. They seemed to coalesce out of the air, and thickened around her, before settling into place. In the course of a few seconds, she was fully armored in an inky, dark shadow that appeared to be lightweight, in the vein of a leather armor. It seemed to be almost liquid, and had an oily sheen to it, as it flowed around her. The shadow also looked as though it was flowing off her back, in the shape of a cloak.

  Two weapons also appeared, one in each of her hands. One was a spear - it looked fairly simple in comparison to higher level NPC weapons they had seen so far, Kieran thought. The spear stood about as tall as [Scathach] did, with a wide spear tip. There was also a scarf made of shadow flowing around the base of the tip, flowing in the wind.

  Her other hand held a longsword. Similarly to the spear, the sword looked somewhat plain. It was a thick, two-sided blade with a simple cross guard. There was a hole in the shadow that made up the hilt, perhaps where a gem or other design would typically sit in a real sword, but that was the only real bit of flair.

  Both weapons, however, had the same oily black appearance as the woman’s armor, and the edges seemed to fuzz away into the air as the shadow flowed off the weapons as smoke.

  Evan whistled. “Damn. That looks good.”

  “I want it.” Jazz whined.

  “Me too!” Nyx said, excited. “Those shadowy weapons are exactly my vibe. What do you think the chances are that she drops some in that style?”

  “Dunno. Depends whether this is a real fight or not, I think.” Marissa said. “If this isn’t just a short, like, “survive three minutes in the ring with death herself”, then it’s possible.”

  “Well, no reason to worry about that now.” Evan said, as [Scathach’s] nameplate and HP bar showed up.

  “Prepare yourselves!” [Scathach] shouted, and then she vanished.

  “Holy shit!” Evan shouted, as [Scathach] just suddenly teleported right in front of the party and singled out the tank, smashing her spear down onto Fiona in an instant. Fiona’s HP dropped by 8,000 from the single hit without mitigation or blocking.

  “That’ll kill any non-tank in a single hit outright, damn.” Nyx said, as the whole group spread out quickly. The healers quickly threw some big healing spells at Fiona as she engaged with the boss, trying to establish [Treat].

  “You better block that shit, Fiona,” Ash called. “You need the mit.”

  “Way ahead of you, bud.” Evan returned. “Holy shit these basics hurt.”

  As the party immediately moved into their openers as soon as the fight began, everyone was in the middle of a burst phase when [Scathach] dragged her sword along the haft of her spear. As if she had struck a match, there was an ignition that exploded with shadow. It blasted outward, striking the whole party, leaving everyone under 1,000 HP.

  “Ow.”

  “That hurt.” Evie said, quickly transitioning into a big AoE heal. “And it wasn’t an instant 1 HP mechanic either. That was real damage.”

  “Raw gear check?” Kieran said, still moving through his opener on muscle memory. “That’s brutal - Mag Mell hasn’t done many of those before.”

  “True, but if they ever were gonna, it would be here. And in a “test” battle, too.” Marissa said.

  [Scathach] hit Fiona with a strong sword stroke, leaving her [Stunned] and under 2,000 HP, and leapt back away from the party. The attack that she had hit Fiona with didn’t seem to be denoted as a tank buster, despite the heavy damage.

  “Alright, try this!” [Scathach] shouted, and then she jumped straight up into the air. She reared back with her spear in a reverse grip, preparing to throw it, but she hung at the apex of her jump while the spear seemed to gather shadow from the air around it.

  The spear warped and morphed into a hellish looking lance, with shadows spiraling from the tip toward the butt of the spear, making the whole thing look like a drill.

  And then she threw it at the center of the party.

  Kieran had an immediate flashback to the attack the [Cu] had used to nearly kill them all during his “test”, and considered just running away. Caoimhe wouldn’t get far though.

  Aleister stepped up directly in front of the spear, triggered two mitigation skills, and held his [Ebony Guard] hoping to intercept the attack.

  Jazz said “I hope this works,” but the spear had struck before she had even finished speaking. Aleister’s HP zeroed out immediately on contact, without so much as a clash. His body crumpled to the ground, the shadow spear buried through his chest.

  “Oh, well, you’ll be fine. Probably.” [Scathach] said, as she held her hand out to the side, recalling the spear. It puffed away into smoke from Aleister’s body to reappear in the boss’ hand.

  “Oh. My God.” Jazz said. “That’s not the answer guys, I took like 90 million damage. No mit will save you from that.”

  “Good to know, I guess.” Evie said, quickly casting [Resurrection] on Aleister as [Scathach] gently floated back to the ground.

  While Aleister was recovering, the rest of the party moved into formation to face [Scathach], Fiona ready to square off with her once again.

  “And we go again.” [Scathach] said, closing the gap to Fiona in an instant. There was just the slightest visual of a shadowy wisp to denote the magical movement, before she struck.

  Fiona had wisened up quickly, and had simply been holding the [Guard] button almost the entire time. But even then, the damage she took from the relentless attacks was significant - and that was from basic attacks, not anything that could be considered a skill.

  Mellody was trying to do what she could to keep everyone alive, but with how much damage was hitting Fiona with every action, Evie was doing the bulk of the work. Her single target healing spells were the sole reason Fiona hadn’t already fallen to just raw damage.

  “Y’all, shadow lady scares me,” Evan said as he was struggling to do anything other than just take hits.

  “We need to do something about this, or we’re just gonna die.” Firo said. “And we’re not actually dealing any significant damage.”

  “I’m not sure the goal is to actually kill her.” Marissa said, no doubt thinking back to their test with [Cu]. “We probably need to either trigger something, or just survive either a specific attack or a time limit.”

  “Fat lotta good that does us now,” Jazz said, getting Aleister back into the fight.

  “Shit, what now?” Evan asked, as [Scathach] raised her sword above her head. The blade gathered shadow in a similar fashion to what the spear had done, growing thick and dangerous. Once the shadows had settled around what had already been a fairly thick blade, the weapon had turned almost monstrous; it looked to be a massive, angular single-edged blade that looked fit for a [Tyrant].

  “Damn, I want one of those.” Kieran muttered.

  [Scathach] twisted in a spin and spun the massive weapon in a huge circle around her. The strike generated a ring of shadow that expanded outward, cutting through the entire party as it passed each of them.

  As they were spread in their clock spots, every party member took the shadowy attack to the chest. Kieran noted that when part of the attack made contact with someone, that section vanished.

  Of course, noting that after everyone except the tanks had died to the attack didn’t exactly do very much. And Fiona and Aleister fell in short order to nothing but basic attacks.

  When the party respawned back outside the pasture they had fought in, there was a collective sigh.

  “Yeah, I think that’s a good place to end for tonight.” Nyx said.

  “Man, I wish I didn’t have to work tomorrow!” Ash laughed. “I wanna get back in there, but we should call it for the night.”

  “For the week.” Marissa said, reminding everyone. She didn’t sound particularly excited about it, though.

  “We’ll be here ready and raring to go on Tuesday.” Jazz said.

  “Yep. And I’m sure we’ll be in touch over the weekend too. If we find a chance where everyone is around, we can -”

  “I’m gonna be busy all weekend,” Evan said, sadly. “But you all are welcome to do whatever else you’d like. No going in here without me, though?”

  “Course not. We do this as a team. That’s the whole point.” Evie declared, and was backed up by several sounds of agreement.

  “Well then, everyone. Good shit this week. Let’s kick her teeth in on Tuesday!” Marissa cheered.

  She was answered by several cheers, while Jazz suddenly shouted “Oh no, my fish is drowning!” and disconnected.